A/N: I. am. so. sorry. I wasn't in the mood to work with my stories for a long while because I was super busy!
Big news! I'm in college studying animation! I'm just so happy I was given the chance to study what I've been aiming for- I moved places and I'm living on my own here, so it took me a while to settle things and get a hang of college. But now that things are flowing alright, I got to sit down and write!
ALSO! I have been re-writing the chapters of 'Gloyd's Past - The Lonely Child' and posted them in a NEW STORY, so please go check out the first chapters in it so you can understand better what's going to happen in here!
With all that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
They felt the ground rumbling strongly under their feet; Spellina gasped as her things started to fall from the shelves and acting quickly, she used her magic to avoid her potion bottles and books from hitting the floor. The rest of the racers rushed outside, trying to see what was going on.
"O-over there!" Rufus cried, and pointed to a bright beam of light going off at some part of the island.
Manny looked up with a scowl. "Well, there is absolutely no way that could be a good thing."
"I have to agree," Fang said, turning towards Dim Light. "Should we head towards it?"
Dim Light looked at him, and then at the others, becoming aware of the confusion and worry in everyone's looks. He looked down in thought. "That light..." He looked up at the direction the light came from until it vanished entirely. "...It came from the Mayor's place, there's no doubt."
"T-the Crow Mansion...?" Maria trembled in fear as she heard that place being mentioned, and Viper quickly stood by her side. "We are heading... there?"
Manny looked at them. "...That's the place you were kept in?" She nodded, hiding her face on her boyfriend's arm. "You don't have to come with us, but if that light came from that place, we must head there and do something. I didn't come here to hear Gloyd was taken away and just sit here doing nothing." He adjusted his hat.
Viper hissed quietly. "And we told ya, we are tired of hidin', I'm goin' with you." Maria looked at him worriedly. "I'm not goin' to let that thing get away after what they've done to usss."
"I will head there too, Gloyd was under my responsibility-" Dim Light's eyes glowed brighter. "I will never forgive myself if I didn't take part of this plan."
"This time, I'm coming along." Rufus looked back and saw Spellina walking out of their house, carrying her bag and her magic spells book. She noticed Manny's scowl. "Oh, stop being such a baby- your 'bravo man' attitude and bow won't do anything useful."
"Don't underestimate me." He said through gritted teeth. Fang turned to the remaining avatars. "You will stay here, then-"
"Not me." Everyone turned to Vanellope. "I let Gloyd do everything on his own because I was afraid of whatever the Polybius was out here, I won't do the same mistake again." She glitched next to Dim Light and the others.
None of them said anything until Faust floated ahead and stood on Dim Light's side as well. "I'm going to make up for all the troubles I caused."
"Then I'm heading there too!" Rufus got next to Spellina. "I know we can do better together!" He smiled up at her,
"You and your sappy stuff..." She sighed, but there was a slight trace of a smile in her expression.
Maria quietly moved next to Viper, who was looking at her in astonishment. "I-I'm scared but... I'm sure Gloyd is even more so... and I don't want you to get hurt again..." The boy blushed and looked away, scratching his cheek. "Geez, doll..."
Swizzle and Minty looked at each other, and they were doubtful- they didn't have any helpful abilities and their Character Items could only work for so long. She shook her head and looked at Vanellope. "I know it didn't work last time, but since the Silhouette is with Gloyd, I think we can use this chance to bring more guards."
"Yeah, and maybe the rest of the crew as well!" The daredevil racer nodded at her in agreement. Swizzle looked at Vanellope. "We'll go gather all the back-up you guys need."
"Then, it's settled," Vanellope smirked and turned to the rest. "We'll go save Gloyd..."
"...And claim our island back!" The Trickery Treat racers finished.
And not saying anything else, they went to get ready for their upcoming confrontation.
Loneliness... fear... betrayal...
He held his head tightly, his code glitching as everything that was once lost, kept returning in the shape of painful memories.
Disappointment... screaming... darkness, so much darkness...
The Mayor... the house... the garden... the flowers... the singing at night...
...Lloyd
Lloyd.
Lloyd was the Silhouette.
The monster everyone was afraid of, and that he wanted to defeat... was his own brother. A brother he had forgotten.
"Gloyd, answer me!" He snapped his attention to the face he now recognized... a face so similar to his own, with eyes that assembled their mother's. Lloyd was back to his normal self, the one he grew with and the one he always thought only wanted him to live miserably- only to find out he was another victim like the rest.
Things made sense for once, but others didn't, and Gloyd was more lost than he thought he would ever be. So lost he couldn't reply to the other, and still clutched his head.
The older boy was anxious, his eyes wide and looking straight at Gloyd. "Are you OK? What the Polybius was that light?"
"...I-I don't know..." Gloyd finally answered, looking and sounding tired. "I just... don't know anymore."
"Did the diary...?" He glanced at the book that was laying next to them, as the other boy had dropped it when everything took place. "...D-do you remember now?" Lloyd looked back at Gloyd. "The time when you lived here?"
The younger brunet nodded faintly, still holding his head. "...But, why..." He looked at his brother up and down. "Why did you change?"
In years, Lloyd hadn't changed that much from the image Gloyd had swimming in his thoughts now. His sibling's hair was the same color as his, but there were black ends on some strands of hair. His clothes were baggy and dark... but they were torn in places, and when he focused, Gloyd saw the dark bangs under Lloyd's eyes, and how skinny he was now. "What happened to you?" He asked quietly, still studying the other. "This is... this is not how you were like before."
"..." Lloyd looked away, and Gloyd saw the shame reflected in his eyes. "...I don't know what to tell you."
"...Well, you better think of something to tell me." He finally released his own head. "Lloyd, you- heck, you know what you did! Everyone outside wants to get their hands on you-!" Gloyd stood up, quickly losing his balance. Acting quick, Lloyd grabbed his wrist to avoid him from falling and helped him sit down.
"Like if I didn't know that already." He said, looking down as he sat next to his sibling.
Gloyd groaned, his head still filled with questions that made him uneasy. "...Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He found himself asking. "Why pull out all of that stuff instead of telling me who you were this whole time?"
"I'm sure... I'm sure that if I did, you wouldn't have believed me." Lloyd spoke quietly. "I could only wait for you to figure out on your own, or rather... have you regain your memories back." He shook his head. "I didn't realize at first that you had forgotten everything about this place."
They stood quietly for a while, overwhelmed by everything happening around them- Gloyd was desperate to know more as he tried to pick up the diary from where he dropped it.
"I want you to tell me everything, Lloyd." He lifted the small journal and set it on his lap, his brother looking at him with tired eyes. "And I meant, everything. I'm sick of all these mysteries involving me- screw my memories, there are things you've kept hidden from everyone!"
Sighing, Lloyd nodded his head. "I promise I will, but..."
Gloyd turned to look at him, frowning. "But what?"
"...I would have to tell everyone as well, the racers and the villagers, they do deserve to know." He buried his fingernails in his arm, showing sights of anxiety at the mere thought of facing the others, and Gloyd noticed. "...But how will I do that if they want me as dead as... him?"
The younger brunet's eyes widened, suddenly realizing something when he heard that last sentence.
"...Lloyd... were they going to...?"
Lloyd nodded, even slower this time. "What was the whole point of killing my father... and let me live? I was supposed to die that day too..."
"N-no way, I don't believe it!" He stood up, facing his older sibling. "Why would they try to kill you? You went through the same things as the others, right?"
"But I was different," Lloyd said, looking at his hands. "I wasn't the same case... I was Duskus' son and expected to be the next ruler." He sighed heavily. "T-the reason they wanted me dead was for that, Gloyd, they didn't want to deal with another Duskus-"
"You aren't that guy!" Gloyd suddenly shouted, making Lloyd jump and look at him in shock. "Listen to me, I remember how Duskus was like with me, and you weren't like him at all! Besides, I never heard anyone mentioning you! How can you be so sure they wanted to delete you if they had never heard about you!?"
Lloyd blinked, processing what he's been told. "N-no one knew about me?"
Gloyd shook his head. "None of the racers said your name during the whole time I've been here, you were only the 'Silhouette' this and that. I would have found out sooner if I heard Spellina mentioning you somewhere, but I only heard about what happened to the Mayor, not about the part they wanted you gone for good as well."
The older sibling was looking down in shock, and Gloyd felt like he finally understood something.
"You didn't want to avenge Duskus, unlike what everyone thinks." He said that to clear his thoughts, and saw Lloyd nodding. "You only wanted to defend yourself, right? That's why you became the Silhouette-"
"No."
He froze at the sudden response and the lack of insecurity of it. "W-what do you mean by that?"
"I didn't turn into a monster to protect myself... not at first, at least."
Gloyd was lost now. "Then... why did you do it?" He signaled the journal. "It's written there. You hated him for what he did to us. Why weren't you on the same side as everyone else when the war happened?"
Everyone rushed towards the mansion through the dense mist of the forest. Dim Light was at the front, guiding everyone else through the right path, his mind running as he tried to think of a method about how they could break in and not being spotted by the monster waiting for them at the other side of the island; Faust was a ghost so entering a building shouldn't be a hard task, and Spellina could lend them some useful magic, Rufus could be turned into a cat and sneak in, although he had doubts about the boy being able to accomplish rescuing Gloyd on his own.
He kept thinking about different approaches, about who should lead the attacks or help defend the others, but all thoughts were lost when he noticed they had caught sight of their destiny. The mansion was high and menacing, but Dim Light had had enough of such things, and he knew the others were, as well.
They made their way through, the tall grass hiding their bodies but slowing their movement. Vanellope was told not to glitch unless it was to flee or battle the Silhouette, so she moved as fast as she could, making sure that everyone was together and moving in the same direction. She was trying not to think much now that they were there, however, she couldn't help but wonder if Gloyd was alright- what could the Silhouette do to him? What if he was harming him now?
She felt a hand or her arm, and Vanellope whipped her head back, noticing it was just Maria. The girl had a soft smile and her hold was as gentle as possible. "Don't fear... I'm sure he is alright."
"Ah..." Vanellope looked down, then back at her. "I hope so... thanks, Mary." She smiled lightly. "Let's get moving." Both girls hurried their steps as much as they could and caught up with the rest.
The tall grass ended and the racers sneaked their way towards the cliff Crow Mansion was standing on. A path was revealed behind some rocks, and Dim Light motioned them to follow him.
Viper hissed quietly as he saw the crows flying above them, their squawks reminding him of the last time they were all trapped. And he wasn't the only one, both Maria and Rufus flinched each time a crow would make a louder sound at them, quickening their steps in fear of the dark birds.
"These things aren't going to give us away, right?" Manny eyed the crows above them. Fang looked ahead, his mind focused only on fighting their enemy. "Even if they do, I don't think you have enough arrows with you to shot them down."
"They won't give us out, they are just programmed for the background..." Rufus walked by their side in his cat form, and his ears lowered back as another loud squawk was heard. "...I wish they weren't here, though."
Maria nodded slowly beside Viper. "I don't like the memories those sounds bring..." She looked at Dim Light. "A-are you sure this is the right path?"
"When the war happened, we used this path to rescue you and the others..." Dim Light said quietly. "I remember the amount of branches blocking our path, but now there isn't anything, so we'll move even faster."
"The villagers set a lot of trees on fire, I saw them from where I was sealed; guess that explains why there aren't many trees now-" Spellina suddenly stopped, and everyone did as well, thinking that she saw something.
"Hang on a minute." She turned to look at Dim Light, frowning. "Didn't you say you forgot everything that happened before the war? What you just said was oddly specific."
The reaper blinked, and frowned lightly, but not directly at the witch racer. "I... I thought I did." He looked around the area. "Maybe walking through this place made me remember a few details."
"Look, how's that relevant?" Manny turned at them. "We have ourselves a bigger problem over there." He signaled the mansion, they were even closer to it.
Spellina looked at Dim Light for a while longer and decided to let go of the topic. "Fine, Robin Hood, lead the way." Manny huffed at her and they walked ahead, but Dim Light stood behind.
Noticing this, Vanellope went to his side. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Spellina got me thinking..." Dim Light crossed his arms. "I did claim to don't remember anything from the war, or the time before that, but now that I recalled the time the villagers and I headed towards the mansion years ago, I... I think I didn't forget as much as I thought."
"As much as you thought?" The girl repeated, looking at him confused. "Hang on, how much do you remember?"
The reaper was glancing down as they walked. "I... remember when I started to figure out people were missing, and how long it took me to convince the villagers about it, until one of Faust's servants told me he was gone for days; Faust is never away from his family's business for too long, so that stuck me odd..." He frowned. "I don't remember when I found out he became a ghost, however. I also remember all the secret meetings and the planned schemes we made for the war-"
"The schemes? All of them? Seriously?" Vanellope stopped walking. Dim Light slowly nodded at her. "Dim Light, that doesn't make sense. If you recall those things so clearly, how come you don't remember the important details? Like Duskus' own schemes and such? You should know them!"
"I... I don't know!" He said in disbelief. "I swear I'm not lying, but I just don't remember anything that has to do with the last lord!"
"Yo, ssstay quiet! We're really clossse now!" Viper hissed at them, making the two freeze, slowly nod, and deciding to just keep up with the others, but Dim Light was nervous- if his memory was as good as it used to be, then why couldn't he recall the most important things? Duskus' plans were one of them, and finding Faust as a ghost for the first time was certainly one as well.
He tried to stop thinking about it as they finally arrived at the Crow Mansion's feet, figuring out that if he couldn't understand now, he would after this battle. The reaper looked at the others, who slowly made their way towards the door.
Manny pulled his bow out and Fang tightened his gloves. "First priority is making sure Gloyd is okay. If we run into that thing... then I don't know. We'll improvise." Fang said.
"Well, this doesn't sound like it can go totally wrong," Manny said sarcastically.
Spellina withdrew her magic book as Rufus trotted right next to her. "We'll see about that."
Manny sneaked up to the front door to check if it was locked. He easily picked the lock with his dagger and then slowly opened it. He turned back towards the others. "Might be booby trapped..." He said. He then looked towards Spellina. "Ladies first."
"How about I turn you into one." She frowned deeply. "You might come handier as a bait, anyways."
Maria sighed, but then she froze. "Hang on..." She said very quietly, but that didn't go unnoticed by them. "I feel... something different this time."
"What you mean?" Viper looked at her, confused. She shook her head. "It's not the same thing I felt around the Silhouette, in fact... I think I haven't felt it for a long while."
Fang turned to her. "And what would that be?"
"...Relief." Maria looked at the door. "It's coming from the inside... an incredible amount of it."
"That sounds to me like there's no Silhouette, so let's move." And with that said, Manny stepped in, the door creaking as he walked in. Deciding to go along with his logic, the avatars moved into the mansion, the wooden floor creaking more with their added weight.
If they thought they would go unnoticed, they were wrong.
When the door opened, he didn't pay much attention to it and instead believed it was the wind moving the old windows, but the steps were impossible to ignore.
Lloyd quickly stood up, looking at the closed door of the room with an anxious expression- they were here, they were looking for him and he knew it. "No, no no..." He said, panic filling his senses.
Gloyd also heard the steps and knew right away it was no other than his friends. He felt relieved they had found him, but not for any particular reason; he had believed things were alright now.
But turning to look at his sibling, he knew things weren't fine anymore. Lloyd was trembling and there were beads of sweat on his forehead, he was terrified.
"Hey, you OK?" He quickly got to his side. "Look, don't be scared! It's just my friends, they won't hurt you! Calm down, please."
Lloyd listened to his sibling's words, and took a few deep breaths- maybe Gloyd was right, maybe he shouldn't have to hide anymore, he could talk to the others and explain his actions, and-
'Tsk, who are you trying to fool, boy?'
His eyes snapped open.
'I can't believe it, you are believing this brat's words? Seriously.' It hissed. 'We know what will happen, you open that door, and they'll kill you.' The older boy started to feel a painful burning sensation going through his code, and he only knew what it meant.
"S-stop! No!" He cried, clutching his head, the feeling was just growing stronger. "I don't want to do this anymore!"
"Lloyd!?" Gloyd had jumped back at the unexpected outburst. "What's wrong!?"
A huge pressure was now on Lloyd's chest, and the voice whispered. 'Look at you, you let your guard down again, haven't you learned nothing good ever comes from growing soft...?' Lloyd tried to struggle the invincible grip, but he knew he couldn't. 'I don't care how much you beg! I WON'T LET THEM KILL ME!'
"AHHH!" He screamed in agony, black smoke and pixels surrounding his body in a dark veil.
Gloyd saw to his own horror the way Lloyd screamed and begged for whatever it was to stop, the smoke growing denser by each second. He froze on his own spot when the smoke suddenly vanished. His brother wasn't there anymore.
Instead, the Silhouette was standing there in the room with him.
He carefully approached the monster. "Lloyd...?" The Silhouette whipped it's head back at him, making him stop, but he quickly reminded himself of who he was really dealing with. "L-listen, I know you're scared but you have to believe me, my friends won't hurt you! I swear, it's fine!"
"..." They moved closer, facing the brunette, and then slowly the Silhouette opened its melted-looking mouth.
Their voice sounded nothing like his sibling's.
'What do you know, brat?'
Gloyd became paralyzed.
That voice was the Mayor's.
They have looked around for a short while trying to find a clue of where to find Gloyd, but all they could find were broken furniture and no sightings of the boy. Dim Light watched each one of the doors, there were many, and Gloyd could be in any of those. Following his sight, Faust quietly floated to the second floor and started to poke his head in each of the rooms.
He was done quickly, but he didn't find anything. Faust shook his head at Dim Light and floated back down.
Maria saw this and grew worried- she knew what she felt, but what if Gloyd was not here anymore?
She decided to focus, holding her hands over her own heart and sync it with whoever was there in the mansion. She felt her friend's worry and determination, their awareness and their loyalty, and also their-
Maria stopped, she felt something strong and sudden... a heavy pressure on her chest, and panic, and confusion; it was a never ending circle of emotions. There was only one thing that could express all those emotions at once.
"T-the Silhouette! They're here!" She said, alerting the others.
"Keep your guard up. The last thing we need is a surprise attack!" Fang said, standing his guard. Everyone moved into position in case it came to attack them, but nothing happened for a while.
Manny looked around the room and then spotted a door, not sure if it had been there the whole time. However, he paid attention to it... there were voices coming from the other side of it, he couldn't recognize them, but they were there for sure.
And not waiting for anything to happen, he shot an arrow at it.
The moment the arrow hit the door, a deafening scream shook the entire place. Maria almost fell back as the wave of emotion that single scream carried was almost too much for her to handle. Luckily, Viper caught her before she could harm herself. "Doll! Ya OK?" He asked concerned and grew worried as Maria trembled while holding her head.
Dim Light quickly floated to where they were and stood in front of them- if the Silhouette decided to attack them now that they were distracted, they would be done for. "Viper, try and console Maria, I'll back you up."
"R-right..." The snake hooded racer held her closer, and the rest of the avatars readied themselves.
The entrance doors were suddenly closed by a loud slam that almost threatened to knock the walls down, and next thing they knew, shadows started to move and swirl madly around them.
Back in the room, Gloyd was still horrified by the fact Duskus was not dead, not like they'd all thought. The Silhouette was dissolving itself and going through the door, and he knew right away that his friends were in grave danger. "Stop it!"
'How pathetic... you believe I will stop now?' The Silhouette was about done from disappearing. 'This is what you all deserve for what you'd done to me!'
The last traits of black smoke went through the door, and Gloyd rushed towards it to get out and stop the Silhouette, but he was soon let down as he noticed the door was locked from the outside. "Let me out!" He cried, banging on the door with his fists. "Lloyd! Can you hear me!? Guys! Anyone!"
His cries fell on deaf's ears as the shadow monster appeared at the other side of the door, shouting in blind rage at the intruders. The avatars froze at first, but they quickly regained control of themselves.
They were tired of having to deal with the Silhouette. The battle soon started.
Vanellope glitched away as the Silhouette launched itself straight at her, missing its blow by little. Manny had gone upstairs and aimed an arrow at the creature. He shot, but the flying object was soon caught by one dark tentacle. "Seriously!?" He growled as the arrow was broken in half.
"Told you it's not that easy to harm it!" Spellina called from downstairs, quickly searching a spell through her pages. Rufus was running all around and skipping over the broken furniture, as there were shadows chasing him. Thanks to his quick speed and agility, the shadows tangled themselves. "Score!" He cried as he saw the dark swirls squirming to get free. Fang suddenly appeared and did a swift kick, slashing the shadows.
The monster cried out as a part of his body was cut, and Vanellope noticed. "Fang, that's their weakness! Do that again!" She once again glitched away from the creature.
Viper saw them battling, but he knew he couldn't leave Maria. He then noticed a faith glow next to him and he looked up, seeing Faust floating near them. "Go battle." The ghost boy said with his usual flat voice. "I'll watch after her. You kicks are needed."
"..." He smirked. "Thanksss man." Viper kissed Maria's forehead before he ran towards Fang, who was dealing with more dark swirls, and jumped over him. He landed on the floor on his hands and spun around. Once he gained enough speed, he kicked through a few of the shadows and cut them. "Not bad." Fangs noted. Viper just gave him a thumbs up and headed somewhere else to kick more shadows off.
More pained screaming came from the Silhouette, and frustration kept building inside it. The kids were giving it a harder time than they expected, and it was starting to drive it insane with ire.
'AHHHHHHH!' The monster howled out in pain, as another part of it was cut off- now they had done it. It released an ear bleeding screech, and everyone had to hold their ears.
Manny huffed after releasing his ears. "Seems like we pissed it off." He saw how the creature suddenly grew all of it appendages back. "Damn it!"
"Fudge...!" Spellina cursed, and then she found the spell that might help them out. She reached her hand out. "Mollis Lux!"
A sphere of light was conjured in her hand, and she quickly threw it against the monster. When it hit it, the Silhouette let another huge cry out as the sphere erupted in blinding light. The avatars quickly shielded their eyes from it.
That was a bad choice.
The moment they opened their eyes, the monster was nowhere in sight.
"...That's it?" Manny went down where everyone was. "Did we seriously beat that thing?"
Rufus turned back into his kid self, looking at Spellina wide-eyed. "What sort of spell was that?"
"I..." She also seemed shocked. "It was just a light bomb, I just figured out that thing could have a weakness against strong lights." Spellina looked back at the spot the monster was standing on seconds ago. "I didn't think it could finish it that easily, though."
Viper noticed Maria was waking up and got to her side quickly. "Hey, Doll." He smiled. "Feelin' better?"
Maria nodded slowly, but then she sat up quickly, looking around nervously. "T-the Silhouette...!"
"Relax, we beat that thing." He shrugged. The others were now at ease, and just about to celebrate their victory. "Ain't somethin' to worry about anymore-"
"I still feel it here!" She cried, and all cheer was gone.
Suddenly, their own shadows started to move, and before anyone could register it, they were trapped by dark swirls. The avatars shouted as the shadows wrapped themselves around their bodies, leaving them little space to move and they could do nothing but squirm.
"But how!?" Vanellope cried, still in shock. They were all in a black web of shadows, and it the middle, the tall and menacing shape of the Silhouette emerged, grinning wickedly. "It didn't do anything to it!?"
Dim Light gasped, now understanding what happened- when they were distracted by the light bomb, the Silhouette must have noticed their shadows reflected on the floor, and not wasting time it took shelter in them. "It tricked us into believed it was done for...!" He tried to break free.
"Damn it all!" Manny growled, he couldn't let this thing win! "Now what!?"
They kept struggling, and the monster made a noise similar to a sinister laugh. The swirls around them tightened and they all cried in pain, and it only caused the grip to become stronger. Dim Light opened an eye and saw that even Faust was caught, and the ghost boy couldn't move past the ties that held him down- the Silhouette truly had powers that overshadowed theirs.
And when they thought all hope was lost...
"GUYS!"
The sudden shout took Vanellope off guard, was that-?
"HEY!" Something was banging the door that had an arrow on it. "For code's sake! Someone open this door already!"
"Gloyd!" She shouted, and started to glitch to break free. Noticing this, Fang took a deep breath. "Satsu no Sugar Rush!"
Fang grew a red aura around his body and began to slowly pry his hands open. The Silhouette cried towards him and his growing powers, and the distraction allowed Vanellope to glitch free from the grips.
She acted quickly, glitching towards the door as fast as she never thought she would be capable of. Unlocking the door, Vanellope was almost slammed by it as Gloyd rammed his body against it.
He saw the scene and gasped as he saw how the monster was trying to choke Fang to avoid him from using his powers. The brunet ran towards the monster. "Stop!" He shouted, and the Silhouette screamed back at him:
'GET OUT OF MY WAY, BRAT!' And launched itself over him.
Gloyd frowned deeply. "I won't forgive for this!" He jumped, and when his feet touched the ground, a small vibration came from it.
"W-what the...?" Viper, who was almost out of air, opened one eye and tried to see what was happening now.
Golden flowers started to sprout from under Gloyd's feet, and before the Silhouette could move away, Gloyd lifted his arms towards it, multiple vines were shot out of the ground and they caught the monster.
'NO!' It screamed, unable to move away from the plants despite its tries to break free. The brunet used this chance to use the same trick and release the others.
The avatars were able to breathe once they were released and set on the ground, all of them coughing as air suddenly filled up their lungs. Dim Light was just standing along Faust, but the reaper couldn't take his eyes off Gloyd.
He was able to stop the Silhouette on his own, and he was shocked by the fact Gloyd's powers were stronger than he imagined.
Vanellope glitched next to him. "Gloyd, are you OK!?" She held him by the shoulders.
"I'm fine, don't worry." He looked down, and then at the recovering avatars. "But I know you guys aren't..."
"Next time try to ssshow up a lil' bit earlier, would ya?" Viper grunted as he stood up, helping Maria as well. "Thossse flowersss of yoursss would've been a great help, jussst sssayin'."
Spellina looked at Gloyd, then at the still squirming Silhouette. "Did you know you could do this?"
He shook his head. "I didn't, but there's a trick I know of that I hope works." He turned towards the monster and glared. "You're done for, now let Lloyd go."
"Who...?" Dim Light frowned.
The Silhouette hissed loudly, and Gloyd closed his hand into tight fists. "I'll say it again. Let my brother go, NOW."
"Brother?" Manny said in disbelief. Between that and hearing the name Lloyd, he started to put the pieces together as he glanced at the Silhouette. "You've got to be fudging kidding me..."
The prankster kept glaring at it for a few minutes, nobody dared to move for quite a long while... but then he shrugged, breaking his serious character.
"Suit yourself." A whole bouquet of flowers was shoved into the Silhouette's mouth.
Everyone started at Gloyd with confused expressions, and the ambient was suddenly very awkward. "Uh... what are you doing?" Rufus asked.
"I'm just hoping this works-" The Silhouette started to cough, golden pollen flying out of his mouth. The shadows were starting to vanish. "It is working!" He exclaimed although it was mostly to himself.
They all watched the scene with unflinching focus as the shadows were starting to disappear into thin air. A collective set of gasps echoed in the room as they saw the boy Gloyd was referring to.
Lloyd was very pale, obviously fatigued, and Gloyd caught him when he almost fell back. "Lloyd, hey! Hang in there!" He tried to get the other to stay awake. "Look, he's gone now, it's all good!"
"What..." He said hoarsely. "...did...he...do?"
"..." Gloyd looked back at the avatars and their shocked expressions. He then turned back to Lloyd. "...Just rest, I have your back now." He said quietly, and Lloyd almost immediately passed out.
Despite the scare that caused him, Gloyd turned to look at everyone else.
"You guys need to know what happened."
A/N: A lot to take in, huh? I figured that having everything explained in one chapter would be too much, so I decided to split this chapter into two parts- next part is already in process!
Don't forget to leave a review!
~DreamerAwaken.
